1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a walk-in apparatus for a vehicle seat which makes it possible to slide the vehicle seat forwards.
2. Description of Related Art
Vehicle seats includes a seat cushion that supports the lower body of an occupant, a seat back that supports the upper body of the occupant, and a headrest that supports his/her head and neck.
Generally, second-row seats of RVs (Recreational Vehicles) or the passenger seats of sports cars have structures capable of performing a walk-in operation whereby the entirety of a seat moves forwards to allow a passenger to get into or out of a rear seat. An apparatus for making this possible is a walk-in apparatus that is provided in the seat.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a conventional walk-in apparatus. When an occupant pulls a hand lever 1 provided on a lower portion of a side surface of a seat back, a walk-in lever 5 is rotated in the clockwise direction by the operation of a locking pin 3. Thereby, a lower tooth pin 7 is moved downwards so that a lower tooth bracket 9 that is integrally provided with the lower tooth pin 7 moves downwards, thus releasing an upper tooth bracket 11 which has engaged with the lower tooth pin 7.
Then, the seat back provided with the upper tooth bracket 11 is folded forwards by the elastic restoring force of a windup spring provided on a hinge pin 8 of the upper tooth bracket 11. In addition, the conventional apparatus is configured such that a user can adjust the angle of the seat back while overcoming the repulsive force (acting in the folding direction) of the spring.
Meanwhile, an upper rail 15 is integrally mounted to a lower surface of a cushion plate 13 of the seat. A lower rail 17 slidably supports the upper rail 15. The lower rail 17 is fastened to the floor of a vehicle body by front and rear mounting brackets 19 and 21.
The front and rear mounting brackets 19 and 21 may be respectively integrated with front and rear ends of the lower rail 17.
Furthermore, a release lever 23 which shares the locking pin 3 with the hand lever 1 is installed below the hand lever 1. The release lever 23 is connected, by a back cable 25, to a manipulation lever that is provided on an upper end of a rear surface of the seat back.
Therefore, when an occupant who sits in a rear row seat behind the seat manipulates the manipulation lever, the back cable 25 is pulled upwards, so that the release lever 23 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction. Thereby, in the same manner as the above, the walk-in lever 5 is rotated in the clockwise direction by the operation of the locking pin 3 so that the lower tooth bracket 9 and the tooth bracket 11 which have engaged with each other are released from each other, thus allowing the seat back to be folded.
Further, simultaneously with this operation, an upper lever 29 which is provided on the same axis (the hinge pin 8) with the upper tooth bracket 11 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction by folding the seat back, that is, the upper tooth bracket 11. Thereby, the walk-in cable 31 connected to the upper lever 29 is pulled, so that the locked state of a locking means provided on an inner surface of the cushion plate 13 is released, thus allowing the walk-in operation.
The walk-in operation is the operation in which the entirety of the seat moves forwards. This walk-in operation is realized by the contraction of a walk-in spring (not shown). The opposite ends of the walk-in spring are respectively connected to mounting brackets (not shown) which are mounted to the front mounting bracket 19 and the rear end of the upper rail 15. Thus, the walk-in spring is in an extended state while the seat is at a rear end position thereof. Therefore, upon the releasing operation of the locking means, the walk-in spring provides the force with which the seat moves forward.
As such, the walk-in apparatus provided in the seat makes it possible to move the seat forwards, thus providing space to allow the passenger to get into or out of the rear seat.
An exemplar of a known apparatus is described in Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0785234
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.